"I hate doing these talk shows." AJ grumbled to Howie as they sat in
the back of van en route to the Late Show with David Letterman,
three days after his talk with Brian and Nick on his bus. It was
ten o'clock that night. The tour had ended two days ago and
immediately the guys had been flown into New York to do press for
the next three days.
"We get two weeks off after this." Howie responded.
"Then we do the European tour until November." AJ retorted.
"Then we get six months off." Howie replied. He planned to fill
those six months being with his family and sleeping very VERY late.
"Thank God." AJ joked as they pulled into the underground garage and
they got out of the car with their bodyguards close behind them.
Nick, Brian and Kevin's vans had already arrived and they were most
likely already in the studio warming up. As they walked towards the
door another van pulled into the garage and AJ and Howie turned to
see who it was.
The first person out of the car was a woman in her late thirties
talking into a cell phone and wearing a business suit. The second
one was a vaguely cute woman in her mid twenties carrying a
backpack, two clothing bags and two CD players. She wore a floor
length jean skirt and a light pink t-shirt. The next person out of
the van was a large and burly man -- most likely a security guard.
The last person out of the van made both AJ and Howie's mouth drop.
Right away they recognized the insanely beautiful blonde that
stepped out of the van holding a small Yorkie and wearing a pair of
loose fitting jeans and a yellow tank top. "That's Genesis Finch!"
Howie whispered to AJ, elbowing him.
"I'm not blind." AJ muttered back, stunned as he pushed his
sunglasses up on his nose indignantly. He watched as the second
woman out of the van nudged Genesis and nodded towards the two guys.
Genesis looked towards the men and gave them a quick smile before
saying something the woman who had pointed the guys out.
"Come on you guys." AJ's bodyguard Marcus said, grabbing both guys
by the elbow and steering them towards the door into the studio.
"You can gawk and make idiots of yourselves later."
"We were not gawking." AJ grumbled.
"They were kinda cute." Genesis commented to Morgan as the two guys
and their two bodyguards disappeared through the set of double
doors. "Now which ones were they?"
Morgan had coached her on the flight from Milan to New York who was
who and obviously it hadn't stuck in. "The one with the shorter hair
was AJ McLean and the one with the longer hair was Howie Dorough."
she answered with a sigh.
"I thought there was five."
"Gen you are being more blonde than normal."
Genesis laughed as they walked through the doors with Christine and
her bodyguard, Rodney Ames, following behind. "It's jet lag Mo." she
protested as they entered the lobby. Howie and AJ were already
standing at the secretary's desk being told were to go. "Now which
one did you think was cute? The blonde one?"
"Nick." Morgan agreed with an approving nod just before they reached
the secretaries desk.
Genesis flashed the two guys her pearly whites again. "Hey. I'm
Genesis Finch. Y'all are from the Backstreet Boys right?" she asked
while Christine talked to the secretary.
"Yeah. I'm AJ and he's Howie." AJ responded, mentally flustered by
her smile. The magazines gave her no justice. She was even more
beautiful in person. Her Texas accent caught him off guard though.
He and Nick had watched her on TRL earlier that day and hadn't
heard it.
"It's nice to meet y'all." she responded, holding out her hand. AJ
took it and this time, Genesis was caught off guard when instead of
shaking her hand he kissed it.
"It's all my pleasure." he responded and Genesis had to resist the
urge to roll her eyes.
Suddenly, they were interrupted when a tall blonde man came flying
into the lobby. "AJ! HOWIE! You will NEVER guess who tonight's guest
is! It's-" he began to yell but stopped when he saw Genesis. His
face turned shades of red that Genesis didn't even know existed.
"Genesis Finch. Errr.... Nice to meet you. Nick Carter at your
service."
Genesis looked at him like he was crazy and took a step back
slightly. "Um...Nice to meet you too." she responded, not sure what
to say. She then turned to Morgan whose face was almost as red as
Nick's. "This is my personal assistant Morgan Saunders."
"Hey Morgan." all three guys greeted giving her polite smiles.
Before anyone could say anything else Christine jumped and grabbed
Genesis's wrist. "Come on girls. You have to start getting ready to
go on. We're already late." she rushed as she began to pull Genesis
towards the elevator. She waved at them just as the elevator door
slid shut.
"Thanks for telling me she was here." Nick exclaimed shoving AJ.
"If you hadn't come running in here like the place was on fire maybe
you would have seen her." AJ retorted.
"That was Pppprrreeettttyyy funny though." Howie laughed as the
walked to the elevator.
~!@#$%^&**&^%$#@!~
"Chrissy, did you see the blonde one - " Genesis
began while she played with Hollywood on the floor of her dressing
room.
"Nick, Gen. His name is Nick Carter." Morgan interrupted rolling her
eyes.
"Yeah. But, anyway, did you see his face when he saw me? It was
such pure comedy." Genesis finished. "And..." she stopped to look at
Morgan for a moment with a blank look on her face. "AJ and Howie?
Yeah. AJ and Howie's face when they saw me in the garage? That look
will ALWAYS be priceless."
"Yes I saw it." Christine answered hanging up two clothing bags that
they had brought. She unzipped them. "Which one do you want to
wear?"
Inside bag number one was a green flower print knee length skirt and
a white tank top. Bag number two contained a pair of skin tight
leather pants, a spike studded belt, and a tight black leather tank
top. "The shirt. That way I won't have to worry about splitting the
seam when I sit down." she answered waving her hand as she turned
her attention back to the puppy. She played with Hollywood for a few
seconds before letting her attention drift over to the dozen red
roses perched on the glass coffee table of the dressing room. Her
parents had sent them. Normally Josh did that. "Do I have enough
time to call Josh?"
Both Christine and Morgan checked their watches and then nodded. It
was ten thirty and Genesis didn't have to be in makeup until eleven.
"Need some alone time?" Morgan asked.
"What do you think we're gonna do? Have phone sex?" Genesis teased
as the two women walked out of the room leaving the door open.
Genesis grabbed her cell phone and dialed Josh's cell phone.
He picked up on the third ring just as Genesis was about to hang up.
"Hello?" he asked softly. Genesis smiled immediately and leaned her
head against the couch.
"Hey Josh." she greeted.
"Gen? Hey." he replied. "What's up?"
"Nothing."
"Okay because I have to go shoot a scene. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay." Genesis replied, let down. "I have to go into make up
and hair soon."
"Oh..." Josh replied, his voice sounding very distant and tinny over
the cell phones. "Um...what for Gen? I thought you did the Christian
Dior show last night."
"David Letterman."
"Oh right. Well have fun and I'll catch you later okay?" he
promised.
"All right. Bye." Genesis muttered and hung up the phone. If there
was one reason she hated her job it was because she could never have
a relationship. She was never able to be there. She was either
doing a photo shoot, a runaway show, shooting a movie, or promoting
the movie. The last time she had had time off was when she was
eighteen nearly five years ago. She figured it was all worth it
because when she was thirty she'd be able to retire and totally
chill out. She set the phone down on the couch and stood up, looking
around for Hollywood. She needed a hug and Hollywood was always
willing to give a hug. Then Genesis noticed the open door. "Shit."
she muttered under her breath. The dog must have wandered out into
the hallway. She walked out into the hallway.
"Looking for something?" came a deep and sexy voice from the
dressing room across from Genesis's. Cautiously Genesis walked into
the doorway of the dressing room to find AJ McLean laying on his
back on the couch with Hollywood asleep on his stomach and the TV
on. AJ was definitely cute and definitely her type. The bad boy look
had always appealed to her, but the last bad boy that she had dated
had been Eminem back in 1998 for about six or seven months. Lately
she had been dating actors and the pretty boys.
"Yeah. Sorry about that. My manager and personal assistant must have
left the door open." she explained, leaning her head on the doorway
and smiling apologetically. She looked into his huge chocolate brown
eyes and realized he might look like a bad boy but he would probably
fit closer into the pretty boy/sensitive group. His eyes held a
sweet vulnerability along with some humor.
"It's okay." AJ assured her, looking her quickly up and down. He was
very glad that Kevin had agreed to switch dressing rooms. He picked
up his hand to pet Hollywood. "I have two Yorkies at home -- Vegas
and Jack Daniels."
"Cool. I just got Hollywood a couple of months ago." she answered,
chewing lightly on her upper lip. This habit drove Christine insane
but Genesis couldn't seem to break it. "So what does AJ stand for?"
"Alexander James." he responded, watching her lazily chew on her
lip. He knew she wasn't trying to be sexy or flirty but for the
oddest reason that made her even more sexy.
"Hhhmmm...anybody ever call you Alex?"
"Yeah before I started using AJ."
"It fits you better."
"Huh?"
"You look more like an Alex than an AJ." Genesis explained. She knew
she was rambling and she should pick up her dog and go back into her
dressing room and get changed but she didn't want to yet. "Mind if I
call you Alex?"
'You can call me anything you want.' almost popped out of
AJ's mouth but he decided that she was too good for regular pick up
lines. "I don't mind. What about you? Got any nicknames?" he asked.
Genesis shrugged. "My friends call me Gen." she told him.
"Mind if I call you Gen?"
"Go right ahead."
"Okay, Gen." AJ replied, smiling lightly at her. "Sorry about Nick
earlier. He sometimes get overly excited by beautiful women."
"It's okay." she replied. 'I'm used to it.' she added
mentally.
"So...I saw some roses in your room when I walked by earlier. They
from your boyfriend?"
Genesis's smile faltered for a second. She wished they were from her
boyfriend. "No they are from my parents. My boyfriend normally sends
white roses." she explained. "Even though he knows my favorite
flowers are white lilies. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Yeah." he responded. Genesis noticed a slight bit of regret in his
voice as he looked at her. "Her name's Sarah. We've been dating for
a month or two. It's been hard because I've been touring."
"Yeah that is hard." Genesis agreed with a nod.
"How do you know?" AJ asked surprised.
"I've dated a lot of musicians." Genesis told him. "Plus I never
really have time off either. I'm either promoting something,
shooting something or modeling something."
"Yeah it's hard..." AJ muttered, absently petting Hollywood.
"Genesis! You're supposed to be getting ready." Christine
interrupted coming up behind Genesis.
Genesis looked over at AJ and then at Christine. "Okay I'll be in a
minute." she responded, with a nod.
"If you don't hurry -" Christine began.
"OKAY Christine. I know." Genesis cut in, suddenly irritated.
Christine often treated Genesis like a child and it never failed to
annoy the hell out of her. Christine shook her head and walked back
into Genesis's dressing room. Then Genesis turned back to AJ. "Okay
well I guess I have to go get ready." She walked into the room and
over to AJ to get Hollywood.
Just as she was about to pick the dog up AJ grabbed her wrist. "Can
I call you sometimes?" he asked looking at her hopefully.
Genesis smiled down at him sweetly. "I have a boyfriend." she
replied and AJ let go of her wrist. She picked up Hollywood before
impulsively leaning down and lightly giving AJ a kiss on the cheek.
"Nice to meet you. I'll see you around." With that she walked out of
the room, feeling a bit dumb. She told him she had a boyfriend, yet
she kissed him.
"I'll be sure about that." AJ muttered to himself. He wanted that
girl damn bad and he would do whatever it took to get her.
